If owners of deposits on long term loan wish to withdraw their records a fee will be levied which will reflect archive management costs over the period of the loan, along with an administration fee in accordance with LMA’s current Fees and Charges. Records of ethnic and other minority communities which reflect the diversity of modern London, including collections from the Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, Asian and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered communities

We do not usually acquire material which will remain closed for a significantperiod of timeunless it is immediately at risk and worthy of permanent preservation. Such material is typically bulky and often semi-current. For reasons of confidentiality and access, it is recommended that depositors retain such material until the closure period has expired. At this point, we shall evaluate and select material worthy of permanent preservation. To take in and look after the records of London Local Government, including the City of London Corporation, the GLC and its predecessors. Cloakroom facilities are currently reduced. You can read our cloakroom policy here. Only small bags are permitted in the museum. Please do not bring large items, luggage, folding bikes or scooters into the museum.Appropriately trained assistance dogs are welcome throughout the Wallace Collection. To find out more, see our Access information. Francis Marshall, Senior Curator (Paintings, Prints and Drawings) at the Museum of London, said: “It’s an amazing opportunity to be able to restore such a rare post-war artwork associated with so iconic a London event as the Festival of Britain. London has a long history of public art, all of which add to the culture of the city. Youth in particular highlights a time in London’s history where art was at the core of a national celebration, seeing rejuvenation to a country devastated by war. We’re incredibly grateful to the Henrion family, who have kindly gifted us this remarkable sculpture.” A fixture on London’s cultural scene since first opening in 1976, the museum is moving house. It closed its doors at London Wall in December 2022 in preparation for its relocation to a new home at Smithfield, where it will occupy historic market buildings and open up to millions more visitors. The new museum will reopen to the public in 2026 under a new name: The London Museum. To catalogue and store all the collections under our care, and to make them available in our modern reading rooms in original or surrogate form for the benefit of everyone. To present the collections through a comprehensive electronic catalogue, and to make popular sources available in digital format. To develop, maintain and apply a comprehensive preservation and conservation philosophy in keeping with best current practice nationally and internationally. To provide a fully equipped conservation studio for the conservation of archives, maps, prints and books and audio-visual material.

The Museum of London has acquired this rare cast of Youth to secure its future and with the aim of displaying it for the public to enjoy once again. The piece, previously lost to the public, was rediscovered in the front garden of the artist’s former home, by Sarah Gaventa, an independent curator who is an expert in the lost art of the Festival of Britain. The sculpture has undergone extensive restoration work, by Taylor Pearce conservation studios, to repair a damaged arm and hand, and revive the darkened surface, which had deteriorated over time. We hold historic (and current) London guidebooks, which can be fascinating in the information they provide, but also for what they tell us about leisure, tourism and travel at the time. Our earliest guides date from the 18 th century, we hold many 19th and 20th century London guidebooks as well as current guides. Daphne Hardy Henrion established herself as a figurative sculptor when abstraction was prevalent in the mid-20th century and was influenced by classical and Italian Renaissance sculpture. She trained at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1934-37 and was awarded a two year travelling scholarship and Gold Medal when she finished her studies aged just 19. Following two years studying Italian and French art, she moved to Paris in early summer 1939, at the outbreak of war, and remained there until after the Nazi invasion in May 1940. She spent most of the war in London where she met and later married the designer FHK Henrion, who designed two pavilions for the Festival of Britain. Her early post-war work includes a memorial to the victims of Belsen created in 1946.Guildhall Library holds an excellent collection of contemporary materials relating to London and London events, including broadsides. A broadside is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only. From the 16th to the 19th century broadsides were the common format used for posters, announcements of events or proclamations, or simply advertisements. They would have been created for a specific purpose and were intended to be thrown away. We hold an extensive collection of published biographies and autobiographies relating to Londoners. We hold biographies of the great and the good - novelists and poets, politicians and Prime Ministers, royalty. We also hold works by and about ordinary people who lived in London - the autobiographies of individuals who lived through the blitz in London, the autobiographies of headmasters, civil servants alongside East-End gangsters, as well memories of people living in the diverse parts of London. These biographies give insight into the lives of Londoners which complement the histories of areas and buildings that we also hold. Business history We shall, in agreement with owners and depositors, evaluate and select material worthy of permanent preservation. This will be done before deposit wherever possible and will follow the office’s own Appraisal Policy, or other guidelines such as the Church of England Record Centre’s “Keep or Bin? - The Care of Your Parish Records”, as appropriate (see our Appraisal Policy).

To acquire by transfer or deposit, the records of the City of London Corporation and of official London-wide bodies. See our photography policy. You are welcome to take photographs for personal use, with no flash or tripods. Entry to the collection is free for everyone. Booking is recommended for exhibitions. Exhibition entry To continue to meet national archival standards at the highest level. London Metropolitan Archives met “The National Archives' Standard for Record Repositories” and achieved a top star rating in the self-assessment of local authority archive services under the auspices of the inspection service of The National Archives (TNA) in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Self-assessment was replaced from 1 July 2013 by Archive Accreditation, which LMA achieved in May 2014 and which was retained in November 2017. The History of London Collection at London Metropolitan Archives is also designated as an outstanding collection by the Arts Council England (originally awarded by Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, 2005).

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We will add to our holdings by responding to offers of archives from institutions, businesses and individuals, including additional deposits/gifts from existing depositors and donors, and by actively seeking out archives which are at risk of loss, destruction or damage. We will also identify gaps in our collections and priorities for future collecting and actively pursue these in line with the policy outlined above. This will be done in close liaison with outside bodies including TNA, London borough archives and other relevant repositories, as well as our wider stakeholders when appropriate. LMA has been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to hold various central government and court records of local origin under the Public Records Act 1958. We undertake to preserve information which may be relevant to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) and will retain any and all documents which contain or may contain content pertaining directly or indirectly to the sexual abuse of children or to child protection and care for the foreseeable future. See our Appraisal Policy for further details. Audio visual materials including film, video and audio in analogue and digital formats, which are of topographical or social significance to the Greater London area

When evaluation takes place after deposit or as part of the cataloguing process rejected material will be returned, or destroyed in a confidential manner, as the donor or depositor prefers. We shall advise the depositor if a more appropriate record repository is available for their material as necessary. We will not dispose of any records in our ownership by sale. There is also a water dispenser in the Espresso Bar in the Natalie Bell building on Level 3. Food and Drink To ensure our family visitors gain as much from their visit as possible, we plan to make changes to our galleries that will range from new captions and interpretation (allowing different generations of a family to explore an object together), to brand new spaces within our galleries where families can directly interact with our collection. National institutions whose headquarters are based in London and which complement existing holdingsOur curators are world experts in their fields. Becoming a named sponsor is the perfect expression of your passion for London, and will provide a unique insight into our incredible collections, our exciting research and our curators’ deep knowledge of London. To collect and preserve, according to statutory provision, and in agreement with TNA, the records of public bodies of London relevance, especially records of courts, health authorities, hospitals andcoronerscourts. Guildhall Library’s resources to trace Londoners, past and present, include: Trade and telephone directories